BlackBerry defends smartphones' security after G20 spying report

BlackBerry defended the security of its smartphones after reported that a British agency penetrated the devices at Group of 20 meetings in 2009 to monitor phone calls and e-mail traffic.

Evidence of the monitoring came from top-secret documents that American Edward Snowden showed .

The documents, which the paper said belonged to the intelligence arm known as Government Communications Headquarters, tout success in reading BlackBerry traffic. One excerpt titled "BlackBerry at G20" reads: "Delivered messages to analysts during the G20 in near real-time."

Canada-based BlackBerry said: "We remain confident in the superiority of BlackBerry's mobile security platform for customers using our integrated device and enterprise server technology. There is no 'back door' pipeline to that platform."

The company said it couldn't comment on media reports of government surveillance.

BlackBerry has built a following among lawyers, bankers and government workers because of the security of its devices and the fact it operates a network of servers on behalf of its clients. The company is counting on that reputation as it seeks to claw back market share lost in recent years to Apple and Samsung.